GTrusted

Samsung made a lot of noise about joining the voice assistance race that Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana have already started. Finding itself late to the game, Samsung did not include Bixby voice control when the Galaxy S8 originally shipped.

When we received our Galaxy S8, we could set up Bixby but during the entire setup process there was no mention that voice control was not yet enabled.

To set up Bixby, we just pressed the Bixby button on the left side of the phone, and the Hello Bixby setup screen came up. After selecting Start, we had to accept all terms and privacy policy before we could continue.

  

Next there were some tips and cards to show schedule, activity, and reminders as well as a suggestion to sign into your Samsung account.

  

In the Hello Bixby settings, you can change which cards to show from which Apps that have already been installed.

  

If you can't find the Apps that you want, you can also see which Apps support Bixby and download them in the Supported Apps section.

   

Once the Apps are set up, the Bixby cards start looking a lot more engaging.

  

Still there was no mention about Bixby voice commands not being yet supported, even after we signed into our Samsung account.

 

Many weeks later, when Bixby Voice was released we received a notification on the Galaxy S8 about setting up Bixby Voice. Only English (US) and Korean were supported.

  

After signing into our Samsung account and agreeing to the Terms and Conditions, we received a pop-up asking to start Bixby Voice.

  

We could also see a video introducing Bixby Voice.

However, we found that Bixby Voice was still not working on the Galaxy S8. We checked the Bixby Settings to make sure Bixby Voice was turned on.

 

After resetting the phone, we tried again to set up Bixby Voice. This time a system software update was requested and we saw an error notification that Bixby Voice has stopped.

  

We again tried to start Bixby Voice and this time got through to the phone's Settings screen to update the software.

  

However, the Galaxy S8 reported that the software was up to date.

  

We went back to Hello Bixby's menu to the Voice Apps and Services to update everything there.

 

Every time we would try to start Bixby Voice in the Bixby Settings menu, we would get another pop-up stating we need to update the software even though everything had already been updated. When we selected Go to Settings, Bixby Voice would again crash and the cycle would repeat itself.  

  

So much Samsung improving quality control after the Galaxy Note7 fiasco.

Compared to a positive immediate experience with using Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant, it took too much time trying to set up Bixby Voice on the Galaxy S8, creating a frustrating experience for the average user.